Who would have thought that getting older gets better?  I truly had a great day on my birthday, December 15th. 

Tim totally handled the morning situation, The carpools, The backpacks, The lunches, The uniforms, The tantrums… all of it without needing me once EXCEPT to break out the guitar and serenade me (him and Zoe) a little happy birthday tune at 7:00 in the morning.  He stumbled over the chords a bit, complaining that since it was dark he couldn’t see, but it was cute and I knew his heart was in the right place.  ; )

I went back to dreamland after the musical intermission and didn’t return to the real world until 9:00am.  The house was quiet and it was marvelous.  I hopped in a fabulous Aveda Aqua Therapy bath and soaked for about 30 minutes-without a single noise… again, marvelous. 

Getting ready was quick, headed back into the office to do a few things, ran around the neighborhood with some drop-offs, then off to see my mom, Lauren and Lindsey for lunch at Brio’s.  Yum!  I love the Whole Roasted Chicken there but it wasn’t offered for lunch so I ordered a different delicious chicken dish.  I was given a free chocolate caramel mini cake for my birthday, which I didn’t turn down, and then we headed through the streets of San Tan Mall to do a bit of shopping.  My mom was in a hurry to get back to work so she gave us 1 minute to pick out some jewelry, her treat. 

After our lunch and shopping, I played my normal role-mom- picking up kids, breaking up fights and turning down volumes for the next several hours.  We visited Zoe’s school for her summative at 6:45 (which was her class putting on a play all by themselves and it was so cute) and then the final event was at Cara’s house for some friend time.

All throughout my day, I was receiving messages from Facebook, “So and so has written on your wall,” notes from friends I have met during my 34 years of life wishing me a happy birthday.  It was so nice of all those people to take time and write me a note!

We had pazzooki’s (spelling?  again, too lazy to figure it out) and had some good laughs.  I was feeling like rockstar on this awesome day surrounded by so many wonderful people! I know it was a total sacrifice to take more time away from their families during the week, during December, during the busiest time of the year.  I appreciated everybody’s effort to be there, I felt like a special girl.  I have truly amazing friends.  After our dessert, we went to see Everybody’s Fine, a really good movie.  I won’t lie, its a bit sad but so real life and eye opening. 

Everything about my day was wonderful.  My family, my friends, my gifts-all wonderful.  The wrapping and cards were good enough to me but it went further when I opened to see such awesome, hand-picked gifts FOR ME.

The day ended at about 1:00am after another relaxing bath (magic bath this time-have I talked about that before?). 

I am grateful for color.  I am grateful for notes.  I am grateful for birthdays.  I am grateful for Facebook-only on my birthday : ).  I am grateful for movies, popcorn, soda and friends, laughter, love, guitars, Hanna Montana cards, necklaces, games, t-shirts, lotion, gift cards, calendars, banners, scarves, hats, Broadway shows, candles, cute jeans and humility.  I am truly grateful on this day (ok, pretend it is my birthday since this is postponed) for my friends and family who made extra efforts to make me feel special and loved.  It worked.

I am leaving that 33 year old behind.   I’m a big old 34 year old now.  A new year ahead.  I am excited with new ideas, new goals and still being PINK.  : ) I want to learn more about people, listen more and talk less.  I am inspired to add to my friend’s’ birthday the way they added to mine.  I want to acknowledge more often the beauty people add to my life.  I want to prioritize my life in the right way.

Late last night, 1:00am to be exact, Tim reminded me that I don’t blog for money (WHAT?), I haven’t promised anybody anything with my blog so maybe I shouldn’t worry about putting blogging on my to-do list…  sounds crazy huh?  : )  This is a record of my life, me in real life.  I love it.  So many things happen in a day and I want to remember them all.  I want my kids and anybody else in my life who cares to have it, a little piece of me.  : ) So, blogging remains on my to-do list, much to Tim’s dismay.